Elon Musk sells almost $4bn worth of Tesla shares after Twitter deal

theguardian.com:

Elon Musk has sold almost $4bn (£3.2bn) worth of Tesla shares since securing his $44bn deal to take control of Twitter.

Musk, the electric carmaker’s chief executive, sold the stock on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to a regulatory filing.

The sales came as Tesla’s share price plummeted amid investor concern that the multibillionaire would offload stock in the company to help fund the all-cash deal for Twitter.

Musk took to Twitter late on Thursday after the filing at the US Securities and Exchange Commission became public to say he planned no further sales of Tesla shares “after today”.

The terms of the Twitter deal require Musk to come up with about $21bn in cash, although it is not expected to close for another six months.

Tesla’s stock dropped more than 12% on Tuesday after the announcement of Musk’s takeover of Twitter, the biggest one-day drop since September 2020, as investors worried Musk would not have as much time to drive the electric car business as competition in the sector hots up.

The carmaker’s share price has fallen by a fifth since Musk first disclosed he had taken a stake in Twitter earlier this month.

Musk is using his Tesla valuable holdings, which have made him the richest person in the world, to part fund the takeover of Twitter.

The sale of almost 4.5m shares, made at prices ranging from $872 to $999 a share, were the first by Musk since a spree late last year that raised more than $16bn, which came after he asked his more than 80 million Twitter followers whether he should sell 10% of his stake in Tesla.